Consumers choose a brand for a host of different reasons, and the new survey carried out by GraphicSprings.com asked international passengers which airline they would like to fly based just on the logo.

And not surprisingly, depending on how you look at it, one of the best airlines in the world, Etihad was first. Remember this was just based on the logo of the company. This result highlights why it is significant for companies to put their best effort into all of their customer-facing products, whether it is a logo or something else.

For international small business travelers, the logo may be a nice feature, but value is more important. And as more small businesses continue to expand globally, finding the best value for their travel budget is a challenge.

The study was extensive, analyzing the survey from 24,000 people between the age of 17 and 78 in 68 countries who flew in the past 24 months. The survey was part of a larger study on corporate logos and branding penetration. The goal was to understand how marketing and other pieces of data affect travelers on the desirability of a particular airline and whether they would like to fly on it.

The Result

Brands associated with luxury, such as Etihad and Qatar airlines were in the top three, with Germany’s Lufthansa taking the third place. For these airlines, 98, 96, and 95 percent of the respondents respectively said they would like to fly them.

When it comes to the most recognized airlines, Lufthansa and British Airways took top spots, which in part affected how respondents felt about the airlines overall. Being recognized brings with it biases both good and bad.

For overall desirability, the airlines from the Gulf States, such as Emirates, Qatar, Etihad and even Turkish Airlines are all seeing their brand growing.

2018 Best and Worst International Airlines

The Top Tier Airlines

The Bottom Tier Airlines

Brand recognition plays a very important role for any company. And in this survey, companies with highly recognized brands did much better than those with little recognition.

Air Astana from Kazakhstan was last. But the bottom tier was also populated by airlines from the UK, and South Korea, which shows the airline doesn’t have to be from a country most people can’t point to on a map.

Value for the International Small Business Traveler

When a small business owner makes arrangements to travel internationally, in most cases cost will greatly determine which airline they will be hopping aboard on.

Key to finding the best deals is getting online and making the arrangements ahead of time, months if possible. This will get you the best price for the flight, hotel stay and even car rental if you need it.